Charles Horton Cooley
Chapter 9:
(1864-1929)
Cooley and Mead
Chair of sociology at the
University of Michigan
PhD in economics
Cooley is considered to
have been a functionalist:
Viewed society as an
organism separate from
the individuals that make
it up.
Cooley believed that society
was in essence a
“living whole”, or organism,
composed of differentiated
members each of which has a
special function.
This was precursor to the
“functional” perspective
or paradigm.
4
Cooley described the
“separate individual” (i.e.
separate from society) as a
myth. Is this possible? How?
Cooley believed the individual is
only a reflection of the
socialization received.
Cooley furthered the development
of the “functional” perspective
by discussing how:
the separate roles of individuals in
society work together to allow
society to function successfully
Cooley saw reciprocity between
the individual and society
(rather than a struggle).
The individual is a cause and
effect of social order.
Wrote about human nature and social order:
(Human Nature and the Social Order)
A. How would you define human nature?
(Does it relate to Durkheim’s “Collective
Conscience” or Freud’s “Id”?)
B. What do you see as the relationship
between human nature and social order
(e.g., does one support the other or vice
versa)?
Cooley’s Four Contributions:
1. the social “looking glass” self
First, we imagine how others see us (our
appearance in the eyes of others)
Second, we imagine how they judge what
they see (our behavior)
Third, we experience self-feeling (pride,
mortification) based on our image of
their judgment.
2. Cooley introduced the idea of:
Thus, Cooley believed that we are
the imaginations that we have
of one another.
Society is the organic whole of
which all imagining individuals
are part.
primary groups (family, close
friends) and
3. Cooley introduced the idea of
“sympathetic introspection”
as a methodological tool (similar to
Weber’s Verstehen)
secondary groups (impersonal
groups such as professional
associations, businesses)
And what is Verstehen?
“sympathetic introspection”
is putting oneself in the shoes of
another
Review: What do you see as the
strengths and weaknesses of
this method?
Review: How does it relate to
qualitative vs quantitative
methods?
4. Cooley identified
three universal ideas of
“right” behavior in a
group.
What might some of
these be?
George Herbert Mead
(1863 – 1931)
• Son of a pastor
• Studied at Harvard
• Chair of philosophy at
University of Chicago
• Did not publish major works but
rather had students pull together
his work
Strength: provides valuable
insights
Weakness: more speculative than
empirical, difficult to test the
accuracy of the insight
--not generalizable
1. loyalty to the group
2. kindness to group
members
3. adherence to group
customs
Mead’s primary focus:
1. How we become social “selves”
in a changing world and
2. How to maintain social order
while accomodating social
change
1. Mead believed that the
“invisible” hand of society doe
NOT determine who our social
self will be.
This is contrary to Comte,
Marx, and Spencer who
believed that humans are
controlled by society
Mead believed that human kind
is not merely a medium through
which society’s beliefs, values
and norms are expressed
through behavior.
Instead, the human being is an
acting agent, organizing and
determining one’s own behavior,
after taking into account the
situation.
Mead believed the Social Self has
a “binary” nature rather than single
1. “me” represents an organized set
of group attitudes learned from
past encounters
2. “I” represents the present
moment (spontaneity, creativity,
“free will”) and provides a response
to others.
In other words, the “me”
follows current traditions
and the “I” allows one to
introduce new ideas
This allows for free will and
subsequently orderly
social change.
Social order is maintained
by the “me” social self
Social change is instigated
by the “I” social self
The genius is one whose
“me” follows the
traditions like others
but whose “I” is
especially unique and
original (e.g., Einstein,
Buda)
Development of the social self
follows four stages:
1. pre-play – unable to see self
separately from others (infant)
4. Generalized Other – able to relate
to oneself according to the
attitudes of the whole community
(adult).
2. play – role taking (young child)
Somewhat parallels Durkheim’s
collective conscience and Freud’s
superego.
3. game stage – Following rules.
Anticipating the actions of others.
The social self emerges (older child).
Example: United Nations trying to
establish a “planetary” generalized
other to settle disputes
Criticism of Mead:
1. Like Cooley, Mead was criticized
because of the difficulty in
operationalizing his concepts.
2. Mead ignored differences
between people (e.g., social
class)
3. Inability to test his theories
The End
(Criticism of Mead)
4. doesn’t account for power—
how/why humans dominate and
manipulate one another (Collin’s
conflict theory)
5. Ignored irrationality and the
unconscience